Immigration Ordeal

Shelly Slater reports

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• STORY: 7/7 Plano backpackers denied entry to Ireland still in limbo
• STORY: 7/4 Three Plano backpackers banned from Ireland, after being held in cell
• VIDEO: Inside an Irish detention cell with Plano backpackers
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Stung that Irish immigration officials barred three young Texas backpackers from entering the country, several hoteliers there have offered them all-expenses-paid trips to return.

The goodwill gestures came after Irish radio stations and newspapers publicized the plight of the Plano men, who landed in Dublin on Friday only to be ordered to return immediately to New York City.

"Newstalk Radio in Ireland has put together an offer from four hotels and I think a couple other companies. They outlined it on the phone a few minutes ago: they'll fly us back, put us up in the hotel for a week with food, and give us 1000 euro each to restart our journey," said Colin Zwirko, one of the backpackers.

"The offer is amazing to be honest. They're calling us at roughly 3 a.m. to be on their morning show where they'll offer, we accept, and afterwards they give us the details," he added.

"People are embarrassed – very embarrassed to be honest," said Pat Phelan of Cork, Ireland, who has offered the men free hotels, meals and cell phones for a week. "We are welcomed in the USA with open arms, and this is a serious issue."

Several other hoteliers have presented similar offers.

The friends landed Friday at Dublin Airport to start a backpacking trip across western Europe. They have said they were told they couldn't enter Ireland because they lacked an address where they planned to stay in Dublin and bank statements to prove they could afford to travel.

Ireland's national police launched an investigation Tuesday into why the three Plano men were denied entry. "Once I get a report from the investigators, I will issue a statement," Tom Dixon, a detective superintendent with the Garda Siochana, Ireland's national police, said Tuesday.

The Garda, which oversees the country's immigrations agency, released a statement Tuesday saying that denying U.S. citizens entry is rare because "the vast majority of persons traveling to Ireland are aware of the requirements of the immigration authorities before undertaking their journey to this country."

Two of Zwirko's friends from high school, Gavin Sides, 19, and Ben Whitehurst, 21, joined him on the trip. The friends planned to start a yearlong backpacking trip through dozens of European countries.

The friends, who are now staying with Zwirko's extended family in New Jersey, had said they probably needed a refund from Delta Air Lines to restart their trip. Although they had saved thousands of dollars for the trip, the one-way tickets to the U.S. had cost too much for them to be able to purchase tickets to fly again to Ireland or another country.

Delta officials on Tuesday said they were still trying to find a way to help them.